1. Field of the Technology
The present disclosure relates generally to methods and apparatus for controlling the selection of communication networks for communications for mobile communication devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present disclosure generally pertains to methods and apparatus for controlling the selection of communication networks for communications for mobile communication devices, and in the specific embodiments pertains to methods and apparatus for controlling the selection of communication networks for mobile communication devices adapted to operate in both wireless local area networks (WLANs) (e.g. IEEE 802.11-based networks) and wireless wide area networks (WWLANs) (e.g. cellular telecommunication networks or Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs), having a generic access network (GAN) mode of operation where access to the core network of the PLMN is achieved via the WLAN through a GAN controller (GANC) or the like.
Conventional functionality related to the techniques of the present disclosure is defined by and documented in standard 3GPP TS 43.318 v6.6.0 (2006-04), 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network; Generic access to the A/Gb interface; Stage 2 (Release 6). In such standard, particular with reference to section 8.2, it is indicated that there shall be no change from the PLMN selection procedures in the non-access stratum (NAS) layers (MM and above) in the mobile station with the exception that, in GAN mode, the visited PLMN (VPLMN) background scan shall be disabled.
However, there is a need for improved control over the selection of communication networks for communications for mobile communication devices.